Upgrade time?

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08-02-2006, 06:42 PM
MillingMan

Upgrade time?

Well, I have come to ask for your opinions. I have limited cash but wish to get my rig ready for Oblivion and stalker. :cool: With that said heres my current setup:

AMD 3500 Newy
MSI neo plat 2 (Nforce 3)
2 Gigs 2-2-2-5 T1 timings (2 1Gb sticks)
BFG OC'ed 6800 Ultra (agp obviously)
Audigy 2 ZS
2 Raptors Raid 0 (36 gigers)
1 200Gb SATA drive
1 160GB IDE drive
1 40Gb IDE (OS backup)

And last but not least 20.1 inch Dell 2001FP :bowdown: and 7.1 surround sound curtsey of my Home theater (Polk RTi Series and a SVS PCi 20-39 sub :woowoo: )

Now with that said I have to game at 1600 by 1200 since its my native ress... So it looks like I need to ditch my AGP and go PCIe. In term I can either go *2 7800GT's in sli or 1 7800GTX:undecided Not a easy call. For $580 I can get 2 GT's or for $450 I can get a GTX..... Any recommendations? Also I'm a bit concerned about my aging CPU...
08-02-2006, 06:54 PM
shaithis

having just thrown a LOT of money at high-res widescreen gaming, I would give the advice:

ATI X1900XTX

Dual 7800GTs vs a single X1900XTX and the ATI ate the SLI setup for breakfast - at the same cost.
08-02-2006, 07:00 PM
MillingMan

I was under the asumption that the 1900 series just had more shader power... :undecided I'd much rather wait for the 7900GTX if I'd even consider ther 1900 line up.

Edit: GT Sli looking sooo good on farcry! http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=851&pageID=1850
08-02-2006, 07:01 PM
merlin2001

i would agree on single card. lots of posts around here from people finding SLI speedboosts v. dependant on application.. without oblivion or stalker out yet (assuming they will ever release stalker), there is no way to accurately judge how well an SLI set-up would perform over a single card. I would get the X1900XT(X) if it was my money...
09-02-2006, 03:56 PM
MillingMan

Wow, I expected alot more views and coments then this from the mighty Hexus! lol... :lol:
09-02-2006, 04:14 PM
toolsong

Quote:

Originally Posted by MillingMan

Wow, I expected a lot more views and comments than this from the mighty Hexus! lol... :lol:

I agree with what shaithis & merlin2001 have already said, only adding to make sure your PSU is up to the job
09-02-2006, 04:30 PM
kalniel

Well your current set up will play oblivion fine :p
09-02-2006, 04:47 PM
shaithis

Unfortunatly, not many people have the cash at hand to try these setups side-by-side.

Hense, I got stung with a huge cost to find out first-hand =P

You will never know how those games will play yet but I would have money on the fact the 1900XTX will play them better then dual GTs based on the fact I have yet to find anything, with the sole exception of 3D Mark 06, that runs better on SLI 7800GTs compared to a single ATI X1900XTX.

Now, I haven't tried everything, bay FAR, but so far I have come to the conclusion that unless something is specifically written with SLI in mind (like 3D Mark), then a single 1900 will eat the SLI setup and spit it out.......
09-02-2006, 11:56 PM
Smokey21

X1900XT-X end of disscussion.:)

Oh btw you do know Stalker is delayed for the millionth time to Jan 2007 at the earliest?
10-02-2006, 05:46 AM
MillingMan

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smokey21

X1900XT-X end of disscussion.:)

Oh btw you do know Stalker is delayed for the millionth time to Jan 2007 at the earliest?

no it's nopt, just a rumor :)
10-02-2006, 10:28 AM
kasavien

You would be much better off with a single graphics card. Which ever platform you go for get the card to match the chipset, i.e. nvidia motherboard, nvidia graphics card, that way if you decide to get a second card at a later date your upgrade path will be much easier. As far as which card to get, ATI will provide the best image quality, but that said i have a 7800GTX and i aren't dissapointed, at the end of the day its up to you. By the way if you wait for the next generation of cards, there's always going to be a faster and better card around the corner, so in my opinion its best to bite the bullet and get the best card you can at the time, providing you can afford.

P.S. i got my rig (check my system) for oblivion and i'm confident that i will be able to run it on high - highest settings.

Hope this helps

Andy
10-02-2006, 11:27 AM
Smokey21

Quote:

Originally Posted by MillingMan

no it's nopt, just a rumor :)

If you think it will be out before then your dreaming. Just saying it's stupid to buy a video card for that game.
10-02-2006, 01:26 PM
kalniel

Well it's certainly stupid to predict video game releases before they're announced (Go march 24th for Oblivion!! :p).

It's also unwise to buy a gfx card for a particular game that's not out yet, if that's the only reason you are buying it. However if you're going to be upgrading anyway then there's no harm in considering what features a game is likely to use even if it's not out yet.

Last I knew, STALKER was actually using pretty low tech stuff in the gfx department - the biggest struggle seems to have been the complex AI and gameplay related to that. For that reason I'd say it will probably at least be well playable on one of todays good gfx cards. Infact I wouldn't be worried with a 6800ultra that the OP already has. Likewise Oblivion will run fine on that as well, although to turn up the extra image quality more power is likely to be needed.